Culture is a way of life, people's traditions(festivities), rituals(behavior), or beliefs(religion or principles).
Culture can also be art, music, literature, a style of clothing, and foods which belong to a particular group of people. Because there are so many different aspects to culture, it can be both uniting and dividing.
For people all around the world, culture is everyday life. It’s often something that is passed down from older generations to the newer generations. From a young age, people are taught ways of life which are suited for the environment in which they are raised.
Culture influences the way people interact with each other and how well people can get along with others of different backgrounds. Culture also is seen in some people's behavior, things they value, and their overall attitude towards certain things as well as other people. In some, their culture makes them who they are. Culture is something that many people take pride in and treasure.
Check out these other cool pages and videos on culture: Facebook:Culture
Folk Culture Folk culture is controlled by tradition, which makes it immune to change. Folk groups are not as numerous in today's society because they follow lifestyles of the past and ignore trends of today. Folk culture is something that is passed down from generation to generation. It can be anything from food, storytelling, music, or a particular dance. For instance, ballet folklorico is a traditional Mexican dance that has been passed down for many generations. Many people partake in groups that carry on these certain folk cultures because people love to represent their heritage.
"Woman baking bread"
"story telling"
Check out these awesome videos on folk culture:
Mass Culture
Mass culture, also known as pop culture can be found in many different forms. Film, music, sports, fashion, and television are some examples. Pop culture is the events, people, trends, and fads that capture the public imagination.Many cultural icons come from pop culture - Mickey Mouse, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, and Brett Favre to name a few. Mass/Pop culture is usually aimed to appeal to the younger crowd, however those in the older crowd had their own cultural icons such as Elvis and John Lennon. Pop culture has been around for a long time, but with technology today it has expanded above and beyond what anyone would have expected.Mass culture is not specific to one geographic location. One product or idea can be spread all over the world and not be limited by language or background. Mass culture's staying power is not very strong; today's hot new trend can be out of style by tomorrow.
1CC708C5-7798-87B7-DF5B-7F1746D2C6931.03.01
Primary & Secondary Sources
A primary source is a record of a firsthand experience. It can be a journal, diary, photograph, letter, notes, artifacts, etc. Primary sources are materials from the past created during the time period being studied. These sources have not been changed through evaluation or others interpretations.
A secondary source is critical information presented by someone other than the a person who had the original experience. Secondary sources can be essays, academic books, review, biographies, etc. In order to create a secondary source the author has to research and study the primary sources to the best of their ability in order to create a reliable secondary source
Hegemony
Hegemony tends to more often refer to the power of a single group in a society to essentially lead and dictate the other groups of the society. The idea is to have people believe that they experience benefits from the leadership of the dominant group when in reality only the group in power reaps the benefits. In the U.S., hegemony is most often used to describe the control and power that political and financial leaders have, through media, through the legislative process and through the use of wealth and assets.
Video Link of Hegemony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDxmzCVFLu8
Pop Art
Pop Art began in England in the 1950s and moved to America in the 1960s. Its focus is on everyday images and uses techniques of commercial art and advertising. Pop Artists use bold, flat colors and hard edge compositions. Use of acrylic paints, plastics, photographs, flourescent and metallic colors is also common. Pop artists blurred the line between fine art and commercial art. Andy Warhol known as is a very well known pop artist, some of his best know art is his painting, “200 Campbell’s Soup Cans,” and Marilyn Monroe Diptych.”
Pop art was appealing to many, while others felt it made fun of common people and their lives. Some did not understand why cheap, everyday objects were used and depicted when art was supposed to uphold and represent culture's valuable ideals. Pop artists strectched the definition of what art could be and how it can be made.
Early Animation IDS 3123.001 Britney Lambert, Christina Cerda, Nicole Moczygemba, Cristy Cardona, Jesse Lara, Michelle Sauter Most everyone grew up watching cartoons such as Charlie Brown, The Looney Tunes, Denise the Menace, and of course animated films by Walt Disney and in recent years Pixar. We were easily entertained and amused, then and now, by the colorful moving characters and funny sound effects, voices, and songs. All the animation we are most familiar with today is much different from most of the very first animations ever created. Some of the very first animations were created using individual drawings, paintings, and illustrations that are photographed frame by frame; this is called stop frame cinematography. Generally, each frame differs from the one previous to it, and this portrays an illusion of movement when the frames are moving in a quick succession of 24 frames per second. These early animation techniques brought illustrations and even comic strip characters alive. Over the past century many great cartoon and animated movies have been created, such as Walt Disney movies and Warner Bros. Looney Tunes. Animation is often directed toward or appeal to children, however, it can easily be enjoyed by all ages. With the passing of time and the advance made in technology animation has kept moving forward with advance in the quality of the picture, and it will be interesting to see what the future of animation holds. Walt Disney’s Animation Walt Disney’s contributions to animation spanned for over four decades. From black and white cartoons to full color, full length animations, Disney’s creativity and influence led to timeless classics that are still enjoyed today. Disney and his animators first hit it big in 1928 with Mickey Mouse’s debut in Steamboat Willie. What the cartoon lacks in character’s voices it makes up for in the blending of music and effects to the characters actions. Mickey’s popularity was global by the end of 1930. In Mickey’s early cartoons, music is the core of the plot. This combination of music and animation led to the creation of the Silly Symphonies cartoons. Each of the cartoons had a general theme and some utilized classical music. Since so much attention to detail was placed on each cartoon, in 1931 the finishing cost for each project was around $13,000. In 1932, Disney had another breakthrough with the release of Flowers and Trees, its first cartoon in full color with the use of Technicolor. Production at the studio always focused on developing a character or plot and each segment of the piece had to have some type of impact in one or both of these areas. Walt Disney did not allow any type of useless information to be put into his animation. He oversaw every aspect of each new animation and offered insight as to how a characters personality should be portrayed. He pushed the animators to achieve their best and create tiny masterpieces each time. Disney was ready to expand his storylines and in 1934, preparatory work on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs began. During its production, the press felt that Disney was taking on more than he could handle. The studio faced new challenges concerning layout, depth illusions, and animation cameras. Over a span of three years, hundreds of artists and technicians worked to help Disney’s ideas become a reality. On December 21, 1937, at a cost of $1.5 million, Disney’s first feature length animated film premiered with well received reviews. By 1966, Walt Disney Studios had released 18 animated films and was in the process of its 19th, The Jungle Book, when Disney discovered that he was suffering from advanced cancer of the lung. It would be the last movie he produced as he passed away at the age of 65. All of Disney’s contributions can still be found in the animation of today. He created stories and characters that impacted the popular culture back then and even now, over eighty years later. Warner Brothers Warner Brothers started back in 1918 with four brothers (Jack, Albert, Harry, and Samuel Warner), (Edwards, Eyries, & Callahan, 2010). The company in its early stages concentrated on the movie industry and became one of the few major Hollywood studios. They became so successful that in 1929, Leon Schlesinger (he had an animation company) began to give ideas to the Warner Brothers about doing animated cartoon series (Markstein, 2000-09).The Warner Brothers thought it a great way to promote their music library. Schlesinger and the Warner Bros. worked together to produce cartoons. In 1944, Warner Bros. purchased Leon Schlesinger’s cartoon studio and became the owners of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and the rest of the Looney Tunes (Edwards, Eyries, & Callahan, 2010). Schlesinger hired Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising (ex-Disney animators) to create the animated cartoons, such as the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies that Warner Brothers would air. They formed an animation outfit of their own, put together a three-minute cartoon to show what they could do, and tried to peddle their services to movie companies (Markstein, 2000-09). Then Schlesinger found their talents useful and also a way into the animation business. Harman and Ising job was simply to “imitate Disney”, the animators created Bosko, the first, main character that the Warner’s released, who looked very similar to Mickey Mouse (without the ears) and also had early Mickey’s humor (Markstein, 2000-09). Bosko also had a girlfriend named Honey. Harman and Ising created a number of characters such as Foxy and Roxy, Piggy and Fluffy, and Gropy Geer; but they were in the Merrie Melodies series not the Looney Tunes (Cruz, 2000-03). Warner Bros. were very happy with the production of the Looney Tunes, which was in black and white. In 1931, they commissioned a second monthly series, Merrie Melodies which was directed by Ising. When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. in 1933 over a budget dispute with Schlesinger, they took with them all the rights of the characters and cartoons which they had created ("Looney tunes," 2010). So then the Looney Tunes had to create a new star named Buddy and they aired him for a few years. In 1935, Tex Avery (Cartoonist) came to work for Schlesinger and that’s when the break from Disney style really started to happen (Markstein, 2000-09). Avery and other animators Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, and Isadore Freleng created the new Looney Tunes over the years. They created the first major Looney Tunes star, a stuttering character named Porky Pig, then Daffy Duck (1937), Bugs Bunny (1940), Tweety Bird (1942), and the rest of the gang Sylvester Pussycat, Marvin the Martian, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Yosemite Sam, Pepe LePew, Elmer Fudd Ect….("Looney tunes," 2010). By the time Leon Schlesiner sold his studio to Warner Bros. they had already switched the Looney Tunes to color just like Merrie Melodies in 1934 (Markstein, 2000-09). The Warner Bros. Cartoons won four Academy Awards and nominated for 17 others throughout the years. In 1963, Warner closed its cartoons studio’s doors because theatrical cartoons were a dying art, and the remaining staff went their separate ways. In 1967 Warner decided to continue with cartoons (Markstein, 2000-09). Over the years, theatrical animated shorts went dormant until 1987 when the Looney Tunes made a comeback with a new generation of audiences. Also they made their way into the amusement business, Six Flags, and also into well known movies such as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988), “Space Jam” (1996), and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) and other shows on television ("Looney tunes," 2010). Charlie Brown Charlie Brown started out as a comic strip in the newspaper called Peanuts in 1950 written by Charles M Schulz. It seemed from the very start that Charlie Brown was destined to be a down and out character. Poor Charlie Brown was the butt of the joke in the first ever comic strip of the Peanuts. Starting with the beginning of the strip he was said to be four years of age, but he slowly aged with the comic strip. Charlie Brown as a character is always experiencing bad luck and failure. From only getting rocks for Halloween to always having the football pulled out from under him, Charlie Brown just never seems to be able to get ahead and experience his well deserved success. And while he is always failing at nearly everything he does, Charlie Brown never gives up. It is his persistence, dedication and willingness to keep moving forward that allows the viewers to make a connection and really care for the character. After airing It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and Be My Valentine Charlie, Brown the production studio was riddled with mail from young viewers sending in treats and valentine cards to let Charlie Brown that they care for him and that he doesn’t always have to be down and out. In one of the last films, called It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown is blamed for losing the football game for his team. As we can guess it was Lucy Van Pelt who was pulling the football away from under him every time he tried to kick it. Even though the fault solely belonged to Lucy, Charlie Brown was blamed by his team for the loss. This film outraged many viewers due to how much they were belittling poor Charlie Brown. Even with all the bad luck any child has ever had, good ol’ Charlie Brown keeps looking to the bright side of things and never gives up. At the End of Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, he sees the good things that have happened throughout the trying Valentine’s Day with no valentines. Charlie Brown is the story of the most unsuccessful boy in history, yet remains one of the most beloved and successful stories in America to this day. Popeye Most people can find themselves saying they are familiar with one or more of the following sayings; “I yam what I yam and that’s all I yam,” That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more,” or maybe even “Well blow me down.” These all belong to the infamous Popeye the Sailor Man who began as a comic, grew into an animated cartoon and eventually into a motion picture. With Popeye’s first line, “Ja think I’m a cowboy,” comic readers instantly fell in love with him. They followed him through his adventures where he became a ‘cartoon hero’ that almost everyone has heard about at some point in their life. Popeye is a one eyed independent sailor. He has an anchor on each of his forearms; a randomly strange accent that is worsened by his corncob pipe which he ‘toots’ through and he absolutely loves spinach. Popeye’s adventures as a sailor vary from strange, to humorous to even supernatural. During these adventures he comes into contact with his enemies ‘See Hag’ and ‘Bluto.” This is where he eats his spinach to outwit and overcome his opponents. The creator of Popeye, E.C. Segar (pronounced Seegar) had a comic strip in the New York Journal, “Thimble Theatre” where it first debuted in 1919 with Olive Oyl and a few other characters. One year later, 1929, Popeye made his appearance. From there he grew to be the star of Segar’s comics. In 1933 Popeye was made into animated cartoons. ‘Fleischer’s Studios’ took the Thimble Theatre comics and made them into cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures and Famous studios took over in 1957. Currently Time warner owns the animated cartoons and Warner Bros. Entertainment distributes them. In 1980 Popeye was made into an action film/musical with the tagline of “The Sailor Man with a Spinach Can.” Robert Altman was director, Robin Williams stared as Popeye, his firs star roll, and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. The story line of the movie is how Popeye travels to Sweethaven, falls in love with Olive Oyl, adopts Sweetpea and makes an enemy with Bluto, basically the same underlying plot as the cartoons and comics. Popeye was such a big hit, he had comic books, cartoons, arcade games, video games, radio shorts, and numerous of advertisements all promoting him. Popeye has been considered a ‘cartoon hero’ because he is uncompromising, doesn’t show weakness, and almost always comes out on top. Through all the trouble he gets in he uses is wit, with the help of spinach, to get him away from his enemies, those who won’t leave him alone and his complicated adventures. With Popeye being such a big cultural influence through TV, comics, advertisements and more, in the 1930’s he actually impacted the public appeal on spinach. Sales of spinach increased by 33%. This increase of spinach sales shows how easily people are affected by entertainment. When something is enjoyable to read and watch, such as Popeye, it is going to have a big effect on mass culture and pop culture. Animation is an example of pop culture as it captures the public’s imagination. While cartoons are created primarily to appeal to the younger generation, there are other forms of animation that appeal to the adult’s imagination as well. The movie “Avatar” is a modern day example of a movie that more adults were drawn to then children. Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse is a pop culture phenomenon who has been around for many years, as well as Popeye and Charlie Brown. These cartoons and movies could also be viewed as folk culture as many generations have watched these movies and cartoons together. Some families watch “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and “A Christmas Carol” every year together as a family tradition. With the help of increased technology and modern ingenuity, animation has evolved into a highly technological tool to bring life on a screen. Many movies are now in 3-d and almost all movies today are voiced by a famous actor or actress. Animation has moved from being viewed an artistic medium for children into something that has much more broad audience appeal. Often you will see many adults without children watching animated films. Animation is used today for many things. To show action, to express all kinds of emotions, or simply to encourage laughter. Animation has an impact on everyone, especially children. You cannot turn on your television without seeing some form of animation, whether it is a TV show, cartoon, or commercial, animation is everywhere. Animation is also being used as a teaching tool as well. Not only in schools, but in the medical field as well. Animation is being used as an entertainment tool and an education tool, making a brighter future for us all. Reference Page Cruz, B. (2000-03). Toon zone. Retrieved from http://bosko.toonzone.net/characters/foxy/
Edwards, D., Eyries, P., & Callahan, M. (2004, April 23). Warner brothers records story. Retrieved from http://www.bsnpubs.com/warner/warnerstory.html Finch, C. (1975). The art of walt disney. New York: Harry N. Abrams, INC. History. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.disneyanimation.com/aboutus/history.html Looney tunes. (2010, November 8). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looney_Tunes Markstein, D. (2000-09). Warner bros. cartoons. Retrieved from http://www.toonopedia.com/warner.htm Melendez, Bill, & Roman, Phil. January 28, 1975. Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. United States. CBS. Mendelson, Lee, & Melendez, Bill. October 27, 1966. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. United States. CBS Mendelson, Lee, & Melendez, Bill. December 4, 1969. A Boy Named Charlie Brown. United States. Cinema Center Films. The "greatest" and the "best" in cinematic history. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.filmsite.org/animatedfilms.html
Culture
Culture is a way of life, people's traditions(festivities), rituals(behavior), or beliefs(religion or principles).
Culture can also be art, music, literature, a style of clothing, and foods which belong to a particular group of people. Because there are so many different aspects to culture, it can be both uniting and dividing.
For people all around the world, culture is everyday life. It’s often something that is passed down from older generations to the newer generations. From a young age, people are taught ways of life which are suited for the environment in which they are raised.
Culture influences the way people interact with each other and how well people can get along with others of different backgrounds. Culture also is seen in some people's behavior, things they value, and their overall attitude towards certain things as well as other people. In some, their culture makes them who they are. Culture is something that many people take pride in and treasure.
Check out these other cool pages and videos on culture:
Facebook:Culture
What is Culture?
Folk Culture
Folk culture is controlled by tradition, which makes it immune to change. Folk groups are not as numerous in today's society because they follow lifestyles of the past and ignore trends of today. Folk culture is something that is passed down from generation to generation. It can be anything from food, storytelling, music, or a particular dance. For instance, ballet folklorico is a traditional Mexican dance that has been passed down for many generations. Many people partake in groups that carry on these certain folk cultures because people love to represent their heritage.
Check out these awesome videos on folk culture:
Mass Culture
Mass culture, also known as pop culture can be found in many different forms. Film, music, sports, fashion, and television are some examples. Pop culture is the events, people, trends, and fads that capture the public imagination.Many cultural icons come from pop culture - Mickey Mouse, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, and Brett Favre to name a few. Mass/Pop culture is usually aimed to appeal to the younger crowd, however those in the older crowd had their own cultural icons such as Elvis and John Lennon. Pop culture has been around for a long time, but with technology today it has expanded above and beyond what anyone would have expected.Mass culture is not specific to one geographic location. One product or idea can be spread all over the world and not be limited by language or background. Mass culture's staying power is not very strong; today's hot new trend can be out of style by tomorrow.
1CC708C5-7798-87B7-DF5B-7F1746D2C6931.03.01
Primary & Secondary Sources
Hegemony
Hegemony tends to more often refer to the power of a single group in a society to essentially lead and dictate the other groups of the society. The idea is to have people believe that they experience benefits from the leadership of the dominant group when in reality only the group in power reaps the benefits. In the U.S., hegemony is most often used to describe the control and power that political and financial leaders have, through media, through the legislative process and through the use of wealth and assets.
Video Link of Hegemony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDxmzCVFLu8
Pop Art
Pop Art began in England in the 1950s and moved to America in the 1960s. Its focus is on everyday images and uses techniques of commercial art and advertising. Pop Artists use bold, flat colors and hard edge compositions. Use of acrylic paints, plastics, photographs, flourescent and metallic colors is also common. Pop artists blurred the line between fine art and commercial art. Andy Warhol known as is a very well known pop artist, some of his best know art is his painting, “200 Campbell’s Soup Cans,” and Marilyn Monroe Diptych.”
Pop art was appealing to many, while others felt it made fun of common people and their lives. Some did not understand why cheap, everyday objects were used and depicted when art was supposed to uphold and represent culture's valuable ideals. Pop artists strectched the definition of what art could be and how it can be made.
Andy Warhol's "Marilyn Monroe" link to play with pop colors: http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/marilyns.html
Early Animation
IDS 3123.001
Britney Lambert, Christina Cerda, Nicole Moczygemba,
Cristy Cardona, Jesse Lara, Michelle Sauter
Most everyone grew up watching cartoons such as Charlie Brown, The Looney Tunes, Denise the Menace, and of course animated films by Walt Disney and in recent years Pixar. We were easily entertained and amused, then and now, by the colorful moving characters and funny sound effects, voices, and songs. All the animation we are most familiar with today is much different from most of the very first animations ever created. Some of the very first animations were created using individual drawings, paintings, and illustrations that are photographed frame by frame; this is called stop frame cinematography. Generally, each frame differs from the one previous to it, and this portrays an illusion of movement when the frames are moving in a quick succession of 24 frames per second. These early animation techniques brought illustrations and even comic strip characters alive. Over the past century many great cartoon and animated movies have been created, such as Walt Disney movies and Warner Bros. Looney Tunes. Animation is often directed toward or appeal to children, however, it can easily be enjoyed by all ages. With the passing of time and the advance made in technology animation has kept moving forward with advance in the quality of the picture, and it will be interesting to see what the future of animation holds.
Walt Disney’s Animation
Walt Disney’s contributions to animation spanned for over four decades. From black and white cartoons to full color, full length animations, Disney’s creativity and influence led to timeless classics that are still enjoyed today.
Disney and his animators first hit it big in 1928 with Mickey Mouse’s debut in Steamboat Willie. What the cartoon lacks in character’s voices it makes up for in the blending of music and effects to the characters actions. Mickey’s popularity was global by the end of 1930. In Mickey’s early cartoons, music is the core of the plot.
This combination of music and animation led to the creation of the Silly Symphonies cartoons. Each of the cartoons had a general theme and some utilized classical music. Since so much attention to detail was placed on each cartoon, in 1931 the finishing cost for each project was around $13,000. In 1932, Disney had another breakthrough with the release of Flowers and Trees, its first cartoon in full color with the use of Technicolor. Production at the studio always focused on developing a character or plot and each segment of the piece had to have some type of impact in one or both of these areas. Walt Disney did not allow any type of useless information to be put into his animation. He oversaw every aspect of each new animation and offered insight as to how a characters personality should be portrayed. He pushed the animators to achieve their best and create tiny masterpieces each time.
Disney was ready to expand his storylines and in 1934, preparatory work on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs began. During its production, the press felt that Disney was taking on more than he could handle. The studio faced new challenges concerning layout, depth illusions, and animation cameras. Over a span of three years, hundreds of artists and technicians worked to help Disney’s ideas become a reality. On December 21, 1937, at a cost of $1.5 million, Disney’s first feature length animated film premiered with well received reviews.
By 1966, Walt Disney Studios had released 18 animated films and was in the process of its 19th, The Jungle Book, when Disney discovered that he was suffering from advanced cancer of the lung. It would be the last movie he produced as he passed away at the age of 65. All of Disney’s contributions can still be found in the animation of today. He created stories and characters that impacted the popular culture back then and even now, over eighty years later.
Warner Brothers
Warner Brothers started back in 1918 with four brothers (Jack, Albert, Harry, and Samuel Warner), (Edwards, Eyries, & Callahan, 2010). The company in its early stages concentrated on the movie industry and became one of the few major Hollywood studios. They became so successful that in 1929, Leon Schlesinger (he had an animation company) began to give ideas to the Warner Brothers about doing animated cartoon series (Markstein, 2000-09).The Warner Brothers thought it a great way to promote their music library. Schlesinger and the Warner Bros. worked together to produce cartoons. In 1944, Warner Bros. purchased Leon Schlesinger’s cartoon studio and became the owners of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and the rest of the Looney Tunes (Edwards, Eyries, & Callahan, 2010).
Schlesinger hired Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising (ex-Disney animators) to create the animated cartoons, such as the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies that Warner Brothers would air. They formed an animation outfit of their own, put together a three-minute cartoon to show what they could do, and tried to peddle their services to movie companies (Markstein, 2000-09). Then Schlesinger found their talents useful and also a way into the animation business.
Harman and Ising job was simply to “imitate Disney”, the animators created Bosko, the first, main character that the Warner’s released, who looked very similar to Mickey Mouse (without the ears) and also had early Mickey’s humor (Markstein, 2000-09). Bosko also had a girlfriend named Honey. Harman and Ising created a number of characters such as Foxy and Roxy, Piggy and Fluffy, and Gropy Geer; but they were in the Merrie Melodies series not the Looney Tunes (Cruz, 2000-03). Warner Bros. were very happy with the production of the Looney Tunes, which was in black and white. In 1931, they commissioned a second monthly series, Merrie Melodies which was directed by Ising. When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. in 1933 over a budget dispute with Schlesinger, they took with them all the rights of the characters and cartoons which they had created ("Looney tunes," 2010). So then the Looney Tunes had to create a new star named Buddy and they aired him for a few years.
In 1935, Tex Avery (Cartoonist) came to work for Schlesinger and that’s when the break from Disney style really started to happen (Markstein, 2000-09). Avery and other animators Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, and Isadore Freleng created the new Looney Tunes over the years. They created the first major Looney Tunes star, a stuttering character named Porky Pig, then Daffy Duck (1937), Bugs Bunny (1940), Tweety Bird (1942), and the rest of the gang Sylvester Pussycat, Marvin the Martian, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Yosemite Sam, Pepe LePew, Elmer Fudd Ect….("Looney tunes," 2010).
By the time Leon Schlesiner sold his studio to Warner Bros. they had already switched the Looney Tunes to color just like Merrie Melodies in 1934 (Markstein, 2000-09). The Warner Bros. Cartoons won four Academy Awards and nominated for 17 others throughout the years. In 1963, Warner closed its cartoons studio’s doors because theatrical cartoons were a dying art, and the remaining staff went their separate ways. In 1967 Warner decided to continue with cartoons (Markstein, 2000-09). Over the years, theatrical animated shorts went dormant until 1987 when the Looney Tunes made a comeback with a new generation of audiences. Also they made their way into the amusement business, Six Flags, and also into well known movies such as “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988), “Space Jam” (1996), and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) and other shows on television ("Looney tunes," 2010).
Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown started out as a comic strip in the newspaper called Peanuts in 1950 written by Charles M Schulz. It seemed from the very start that Charlie Brown was destined to be a down and out character. Poor Charlie Brown was the butt of the joke in the first ever comic strip of the Peanuts. Starting with the beginning of the strip he was said to be four years of age, but he slowly aged with the comic strip.
Charlie Brown as a character is always experiencing bad luck and failure. From only getting rocks for Halloween to always having the football pulled out from under him, Charlie Brown just never seems to be able to get ahead and experience his well deserved success. And while he is always failing at nearly everything he does, Charlie Brown never gives up. It is his persistence, dedication and willingness to keep moving forward that allows the viewers to make a connection and really care for the character. After airing It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and Be My Valentine Charlie, Brown the production studio was riddled with mail from young viewers sending in treats and valentine cards to let Charlie Brown that they care for him and that he doesn’t always have to be down and out.
In one of the last films, called It’s Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown is blamed for losing the football game for his team. As we can guess it was Lucy Van Pelt who was pulling the football away from under him every time he tried to kick it. Even though the fault solely belonged to Lucy, Charlie Brown was blamed by his team for the loss. This film outraged many viewers due to how much they were belittling poor Charlie Brown.
Even with all the bad luck any child has ever had, good ol’ Charlie Brown keeps looking to the bright side of things and never gives up. At the End of Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, he sees the good things that have happened throughout the trying Valentine’s Day with no valentines. Charlie Brown is the story of the most unsuccessful boy in history, yet remains one of the most beloved and successful stories in America to this day.
Popeye
Most people can find themselves saying they are familiar with one or more of the following sayings; “I yam what I yam and that’s all I yam,” That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more,” or maybe even “Well blow me down.” These all belong to the infamous Popeye the Sailor Man who began as a comic, grew into an animated cartoon and eventually into a motion picture. With Popeye’s first line, “Ja think I’m a cowboy,” comic readers instantly fell in love with him. They followed him through his adventures where he became a ‘cartoon hero’ that almost everyone has heard about at some point in their life.
Popeye is a one eyed independent sailor. He has an anchor on each of his forearms; a randomly strange accent that is worsened by his corncob pipe which he ‘toots’ through and he absolutely loves spinach. Popeye’s adventures as a sailor vary from strange, to humorous to even supernatural. During these adventures he comes into contact with his enemies ‘See Hag’ and ‘Bluto.” This is where he eats his spinach to outwit and overcome his opponents.
The creator of Popeye, E.C. Segar (pronounced Seegar) had a comic strip in the New York Journal, “Thimble Theatre” where it first debuted in 1919 with Olive Oyl and a few other characters. One year later, 1929, Popeye made his appearance. From there he grew to be the star of Segar’s comics. In 1933 Popeye was made into animated cartoons. ‘Fleischer’s Studios’ took the Thimble Theatre comics and made them into cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures and Famous studios took over in 1957. Currently Time warner owns the animated cartoons and Warner Bros. Entertainment distributes them. In 1980 Popeye was made into an action film/musical with the tagline of “The Sailor Man with a Spinach Can.” Robert Altman was director, Robin Williams stared as Popeye, his firs star roll, and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl. The story line of the movie is how Popeye travels to Sweethaven, falls in love with Olive Oyl, adopts Sweetpea and makes an enemy with Bluto, basically the same underlying plot as the cartoons and comics.
Popeye was such a big hit, he had comic books, cartoons, arcade games, video games, radio shorts, and numerous of advertisements all promoting him. Popeye has been considered a ‘cartoon hero’ because he is uncompromising, doesn’t show weakness, and almost always comes out on top. Through all the trouble he gets in he uses is wit, with the help of spinach, to get him away from his enemies, those who won’t leave him alone and his complicated adventures. With Popeye being such a big cultural influence through TV, comics, advertisements and more, in the 1930’s he actually impacted the public appeal on spinach. Sales of spinach increased by 33%. This increase of spinach sales shows how easily people are affected by entertainment. When something is enjoyable to read and watch, such as Popeye, it is going to have a big effect on mass culture and pop culture.
Animation is an example of pop culture as it captures the public’s imagination. While cartoons are created primarily to appeal to the younger generation, there are other forms of animation that appeal to the adult’s imagination as well. The movie “Avatar” is a modern day example of a movie that more adults were drawn to then children. Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse is a pop culture phenomenon who has been around for many years, as well as Popeye and Charlie Brown. These cartoons and movies could also be viewed as folk culture as many generations have watched these movies and cartoons together. Some families watch “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and “A Christmas Carol” every year together as a family tradition.
With the help of increased technology and modern ingenuity, animation has evolved into a highly technological tool to bring life on a screen. Many movies are now in 3-d and almost all movies today are voiced by a famous actor or actress. Animation has moved from being viewed an artistic medium for children into something that has much more broad audience appeal. Often you will see many adults without children watching animated films.
Animation is used today for many things. To show action, to express all kinds of emotions, or simply to encourage laughter. Animation has an impact on everyone, especially children. You cannot turn on your television without seeing some form of animation, whether it is a TV show, cartoon, or commercial, animation is everywhere. Animation is also being used as a teaching tool as well. Not only in schools, but in the medical field as well. Animation is being used as an entertainment tool and an education tool, making a brighter future for us all.
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